How we perceive death

I just returned from the funeral of my friend who suffered an untimely and unfortunate death; he died at the hands of heroin a week ago. I have known this guy for the past 8 months, he was sober and he was helping a lot of people. His death came suddenly, as he tested negative for all substances just 2 days prior to his passing. After I found him overdosed in his room, I have been experiencing a whirlwind of emotions; anger, sadness, just to name a couple. How can this death be considered anything other than tragic? After working in the addiction field for almost a year, I have experienced a lot of death, but this one has really gotten to me. What if this is a blessing in disguise? A teaching point to someone else in this sober house who is thinking, "maybe just one more..."?

With the stigma surrounding addiction still existing, I'm sure there are people who knew him that are thinking, "Well it was a matter of time." Maybe still others who will say, "Well, that's what you get." I knew this guy as one of the nicest, genuine, and most kind people I've ever met. While I'm still searching for answers, I'm choosing to believe that my friend died so that someone else could be saved. A change of perspective has made this pain a little more bearable.